21st to 23rd July 

Worst few days of our lives!!! The weather is horrendous. Awful sailing conditions. Real heavy wind and choppy tall waves. Quite scary at times.

Arrived at rarotonga after dark at 7pm in a rain storm. We cant go into the harbour as it is too dangerous to attempt so we had to anchor on the west side of the island where it is more protected from the wind. Paul stayed up most of the night to monitor our position and anchor bless him.

24th July

Today we Sailed round to the harbour. The swell is quite bad here but the wind is meant to start dropping from tomorrow. We Met Elaine and Steve who have decided to stay an extra night at their gorgeous looking hotel due to the swell and movement on the boat.

We are the only boat moored in the harbour and attracting a lot of attention from the locals which is quite funny! We all Went for dinner at trader jacks and crashed out in bed early to catch up with the lack of sleep from the past few days!

25th July 

It Rained for most of the day so we caught up on a few jobs we hadn't been able to do in the rough sea. Steve and Elaine arrived with their bags this morning and are now settling back in. We did the food shop for the week this afternoon and were delighted to parsnips and rhubarb! something we havent had for a long time! Such fun! 

26th July

As the weather was so much better we Hired mopeds and took a drive around the whole island...stopping for a boogie burger first which was really tasty! the island is very pretty and similar to where we have just come from in french polynesia. We went Out for a curry in the evening to a place called raviz. raviz is a chain all over New Zealand where you can order whatever curry you like and what level of spice you prefer eg a hot korma, or a medium vindaloo....the meal was really tasty and we had a giggle there too. 

27th July

Went to the market this morning. The market Had a dance show which we watched and enjoyed. The little Kids who were in the show doing polynesian dancing were so cute with their grass skirts and tail feathers! As part of the show the kids were asked to select people from the audience to take part in the dancing. At this point most of the crowd stood up to make a run for it, including us, but we were too late - Paul was grabbed by a mischievous looking little girl to go up on stage and compete for a free dinner and show at one of the islands main attractions - the lord of the dance flippin won!! So we are looking forward to that now on Monday night. 

28th July

We went for a walk across the island today. It was fierce!!! We basically climbed to the top of the island where the views were fantastic. Going up was hard work climbing up the cliffs using tree roots as our stairs which seemed to go on forever and it was quite steep in parts.

When we reached the top we had to decide whether to go back the way we came or carry on with the track to walk across the rest of the island. We chose to continue with the track as we had covered most of the trail already so thought the quickest way down was to carry on...how wrong we were!!

The track was sooooo steep we were using ropes and chains to help ourselves down. We had to cross the river several times where the rocks were slippery and quite tricky to keep your footing but we eventually arrived at the end of the track just in time to get the last bus back to the harbour. Phew! Even though at the time it seemed dangerous and annoying, we all had a giggle and a real fun day.

29th July

To mark the cook islands independence they have a week of celebrations that kicked off today with a parade and opening ceremony. We both went to the Highland paradise culture show this evening which is the dinner and show prize paul won for his dance moves on saturday at the market. 

it was very interesting learning about the culture and having a tour around the ancient village. Three coaches collect guests from around the island and drop you off and Paul was made 'chief' of our coach! He had to present a fruit basket to the king and had a fetching leaf ley to wear for the night. he also learnt to play the conch shell! Paul chief. George. After the tour we helped ourselves to the buffet of traditional food which was yummy! We then got to see a show of traditional music and dancing.

30th July

Caroline arrived this afternoon just in time for Sundowners on beach. It's been the nicest weather today for a while so glad she arrived for a nice sunset! 

31st July

We had a Drive around island today with caroline. as caroline has been here before she showed us where she stayed and we played Crazy golf. When we got back to the boat we cooked Elaine a special birthday dinner and she opened her pressies which was really special for all the britts to be together for it.

1st August

Today was a bit hectic with getting the boat ready for our passage to beveridge reef and with the parents leaving this afternoon. they are now heading to tahiti and moorea for 10 days for elaines birthday before heading back to the uk. we really hope the weather improves for them. we left Rarotonga in the afternoon en route to beverage reef.